Browsing by Subject "Gay"
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Item A-AVOIR Resistance : a cross cultural study of sexual citizenship in North America and France(2012-05) Batiste, Dominique Pierre; Strong, Pauline Turner, 1953-; Speed, Shannon, 1964-; Johnson, MichaelWhat forms of resistance are gay men in France and North America enacting against heteronormativity and homophobia? And why are they enacting these particular forms of resistance? To answer these questions, this thesis aims to draw connections between gay men's resistance strategies and larger socio-political phenomena in both France and North American cultures. First I focus on the discursive construction of citizens, both heterosexual and homosexual, in order to illustrate how gay men are relegated to second-class citizenship based on their sexual identities and practices. My focus, here, is cultural citizenship and sexual citizenship, two themes that run throughout this thesis. Next, I use Foucault's theories of knowledge-power to reveal how power relations in society discursively create subject positions, such as 'homosexuals' and 'heterosexuals', utilizing structures of control, norms, rewards, and punishments in order to champion heterosexuality to the detriment of homosexuality. In order to contest exercises of power, gay men engage in acts of resistance. i examine scholarly debates centered on resistance, and create a list of criterion for overt resistance, which I dub A AVOIR Resistance on account that it includes the characteristics of Action, Alternatives, Visibility, Opposition, Intent, and Recognition. Utilizing my rubric for overt resistance, as well as Foucault's notions of power, I analyze interview transcripts from a sample of gay men in North America and France to reveal that some gay men, living outside of large metropolitan areas, are rejecting hegemonic ideals of 'gayness' and integrating into mainstream heteronormative society. These men are creating what I call 'authentic communities' where many individuals from various backgrounds and lifestyles live together harmoniously based primarily on access to resources rather than identity markers such as sexual identity. this research shows a split between the ways that urban and suburban gay men embody their homosexuality. Since research on gay men focuses on those living in urban areas, my research calls, instead, for focus on suburban gay men and their resistance to homo-normative ideologies of what it means to me gay.Item Bodies, identities, and voices on American idol(2010-08) Boyd, Maria Suzanne; Staiger, Janet; Fuller, JenniferThis thesis examines the ways in which American Idol producers rely on the white, Christian, heterosexual, middle-class, Americanness of contestants’ bodies and identities to advance the show’s American Dream narrative. When contestants do not meet all four of the components of Americaness, producers highlight some aspects of the contestants’ identities while hiding other truths about who they are. Additionally, those contestants who are able to adhere simultaneously to their producer-constructed personas while also asserting their individuality tend to fair best in the competition.Item Domestic violence in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community(2010-08) Pal, Hoimonti; Awad, Germine H.; Sherry, AlissaDomestic violence is considered a serious health and social problem in the United States and around the world. Annually, domestic violence costs in the U.S. are estimated at 8.3 billion dollars. Domestic violence issues first came to modern attention with the women’s movement of the 1970’s. Much of the literature focuses on domestic violence within heterosexual relationships. There has not been much attention directed towards domestic violence in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. This report reviews information about domestic violence, its causes, theories, and how domestic violence affects individuals in the LGBT community.Item Exploring friendships in the workplace: Do gender and sexual orientation matter?(2009-05) Brooks, Erika Dee; Zvonkovic, Anisa M.; Reifman, Alan; Mulsow, Miriam; Beard LauraFriendships in the workplace have been shown to lead to greater job satisfaction and commitment to the job, but forming friendships in the workplace may be harder for some individuals than others. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the friendships people make in the workplace and to determine if friendships at work impact job satisfaction, job commitment, and overall wellbeing, looking particularly to see if these factors differ by gender or among gay, lesbian, bisexual, and heterosexual people.Item From public bathhouse to smartphone apps, has the destiny of Chinese gay men really changed during the past 50 years?(2013-05) Jiang, Liefu; Todd, RussellBecause of the pressure from the traditional value, the suppression by the authorities and the misleading propaganda for spreading AIDS, Chinese gay community has gone through more severe misery and discrimination than their western peers during past 50 years. Although a more tolerant social attitude towards homosexuality is slowly taking shape in this country, most Chinese gay men still have to keep their sexual orientation in dark and would not publicly interact with other gay men. The four main characters in this story -- Nian, Sa, Cui Zi-en and Xiao -- represent gay men of four different generations, born in 1990s, 1980s, 1960s and 1930s, respectively. Their personal experiences of cruising in public restrooms and bathhouses, gay bars and clubs, on the Internet and through smartphone apps demonstrate the evolution of methods for social intercourse in Chinese gay community during the past 50 years. Although the new technologies enable Chinese gay men to enjoy more freedom than ever before, there is still a long way to go before real equality and tolerance could ever be achieved.Item Gay by any other name?(2014-12) Stone, Lala Suzanne; Dahlby, Tracy; Jensen, Robert, 1958-It has long been a tool of the LGBTQ rights movement to loudly proclaim and own one’s sexual orientation label. However, there is a new generation of young sexual minorities who feel a label is no longer necessary. Are these no-labelers headed in the right direction? Or are they hurting the fight for LGBTQ equality?Item Gay men's dating preferences(2008-08) Chan, Cara; Sharp, Elizabeth A.The present study examined young gay men’s dating preferences. In particular, the exploration of the importance of appearance in the dating lives of young gay men and desired characteristics of an ideal romantic partner for 114 young gay men. Using multiple regressions, it was found that gay men in larger metropolitan cities/areas are more likely to value good looks more so than gay men in small metropolitan areas. Results also yielded that young gay men who self-objectify more may want a commitment ceremony more than men who do not. Objectification theory was used in conjunction with Marriage Market Theory, and Erikson’s psychosocial developmental stage of intimacy vs. isolation to gain a better understanding of the dating preferences of young gay men.Item GLBTQ representation on children's television : an analysis of news coverage and cultural conservatism(2015-05) Mayer, Christopher John; Tyner, Kathleen R.; Fuller-Seeley, KathrynThe invisibility of GLBTQ characters on children's television stands in stark contrast to trends in adolescent and adult television over the past decade. A deep cultural ambivalence exists as to whether or not sexual identities are appropriate topics for young children on preschool television programming. For example, a marriage between Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie has been the topic of many petitions, political debates, and academic studies over the years. This analysis seeks to reconcile the cultural ambivalence through analysis of news coverage over the most prominent children's shows associated with latent and/or manifest GLBTQ content. New stories that make up the research sample are analyzed for "Anti-GLBTQ" logics, and placed in a broader discourse analysis of societal expectations for children’s television, and what is considered to be appropriate content. The goal of this study is to draw greater attention to debates over how to best serve the educational needs of young children, and posits that the increasing numbers of children living under same-sex parented households are underserved by the children's television industry. The ambivalence by the industry seems suspect given prior, and well established efforts, of children’s shows, such as Sesame Street, and the ability of educational programming to bridge cultural, class, and racial divides. This study represents a preliminary effort to extend the conversations about children’s television content to be more inclusive of GLBTQ identities.Item The impact of minority stress and conceptual complexity on developing a positive gay and lesbian identity(2013-05) Acebo, Victoria Alicia; Sherry, Alissa René; Daleu, Nancy; Ainslie, Ricardo; McCarthy, Chris; Aguilar, JemelContemporary research on gay men and lesbian women features an increased focus on the manifestations of antigay stigma in their lives. In particular, the development of gay and lesbian identity within a cultural context that may be shifting but remains one that includes intolerance, or at best, indifference (Garnets & Kimmel, 1993). Internalization of anti lesbian and gay prejudice has been termed "the most insidious" form of minority stress (Meyer & Dean, 1998). Most models of lesbian and gay identity suggest that these individuals follow a unique trajectory due to their experiences of prejudice and social oppression (Potoczniak, Aldea, & DeBlaere, 2007). One question not typically addressed by these models, however, is how homosexual individuals vary so markedly in their progression through the phases of sexual minority development and/or the degree to which that identity is a positive one. This study was an attempt to explore the relationship between minority stress, cognitive style, and lesbian or gay identity development. 272 adults identifying as a lesbian woman or gay man participated in this study. A measure, The Lesbian and Gay Salient Experiences Questionnaire (LGSE), in order to examine the management of a sexual minority identity and the interactions or experiences related to identifying as a member of this population. Participants' lesbian or gay identity development and their capacity for cognitive complexity were also measured. Results yielded a significant relationship between three of the five scales of the LGSE and negative lesbian or gay identity but there was no relationship between conceptual complexity and negative identity. Significant sex differences were found on both the measure of negative identity and salient experiences with men reported higher levels on both. The relationship between salient experiences and negative identity were also different between men and women. This finding in particular suggests that men and women may not only have a different trajectory in forming their lesbian or gay identity, but that the experiential factors that influence their identity development may also be different. Therefore, further research is suggested in order to investigate whether gay men and lesbian women should be studied separately.Item "Listen to what your jotería is saying” : pain, social harm, and queer Latin@s(2015-05) Glisch-Sánchez, David Luis; Rudrappa, Sharmila, 1966-; Rodríguez, Néstor; Ekland-Olson, Sheldon; Carrington, Ben; Peña, SusanaIn this dissertation, I investigate how transgender, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (TLGBQ) Latin@s have experienced social harm during the late 20th and early 21st centuries, what is the socio-historical context for their experiences, and how have ideologies of Latin@ gender and sexuality shaped these experiences. This is accomplished through the analysis of twenty-six (26) life story interviews where TLGBQ Latin@s provide a testimonio account of their encounters with social harm. Using a social harm framework and centering markers of pain, I develop the theoretical concept algorithms of pain to understand the dynamic and complex experiences TLGBQ Latin@s have with harm rooted in the everyday and institutional realities of racial, gender, sexual, and class inequalities. Algorithms of pain asserts that the totality of social harm TLGBQ Latin@s encounter shapes the meaning they assign to any individual harmful event, informs evaluations of pain and potential harm, and structures daily behavior and attitudes. Algorithms of pain reveal the myriad of ways TLGBQ Latin@s can and do express, communicate, and narrate pain; thus, countering the dominant presumption that pain manifests and is communicated in very narrow terms. This is exemplified in what I have observed as racial utterances, where TLGBQ Latin@s narrate in ways that make use of silence, brief remarks, or stories in passing as ways to index racial social harm, instead of stories thick with detail, description and explicit accounts of pain. Additionally, algorithms of pain establish the centrality of racism, patriarchy, transmisogyny, homophobia, class exploitation, and xenophobia to constructing the full spectrum of emotions that represent pain. Lastly, the dissertation documents through an analysis of governmental mission statements why the state is unable to intervene into the social harm effecting TLGBQ Latin@ lives. The state represents the institutionalization of an algorithm of pain that privileges whiteness, cisgenderness, heterosexuality, wealth, and citizenship, which results in harm management being the overall orientation and function of the state in social harm.Item Lost pines(2013-05) Lundin, Britta Kjersten; Kelban, StuartThis report summarizes the script development, pre-production, production, and post-production stages of making the short film Lost Pines. The short was produced as my graduate thesis film in the Department of Radio-Television-Film at The University of Texas at Austin in partial fulfillment of my Master of Fine Arts degree in Film Production.Item Minority stress, gender role strain, and visibility management : causes and concerns of body dissatisfaction among gay men(2011-12) Rainey, Josh Craig; Tharinger, Deborah J.; Sherry, Alissa R.Body dissatisfaction is a growing problem in the gay male population, with serious implications for psychological and social well-being. Gay men tend to be at higher risk of body dissatisfaction than their heterosexual counterparts. They report lower levels of body satisfaction and have higher rates of risky behaviors such as anabolic steroid use, eating disorders, and over-exercising (Gil, 2007; Willoughby et al., 2008; Kaminski et al., 2004). It is difficult to determine the cause of this issue in the gay community; however, two theories have been proposed to help explain this phenomenon. Minority stress theory posits that it relates to added stress involved with being part of a minority group. Gender role strain theory identifies these concerns with the strain to conform to masculine gender roles. A common link to bridge the two theories together may be visibility management, which is the way gay men carefully disclose behaviors that would identify their sexual orientation (Lasser & Tharinger, 2003). The proposed method will include participants that will be approximately 130 gay men 18-23 years of age. Participants will be sought through online collection from universities in the United States. Participants will respond to empirically validated measures in regards to Minority Stress, Gender Role Strain, Visibility Management, and Body Dissatisfaction to help determine if what links there are between these variables.Item Negotiating a contested identity : lesbian and gay parents' definitions of family(2014-08) Wagner, Sarah N.; Epps, Patience, 1973-This dissertation examines changes in the meaning of family and what this reveals about the complex, socially grounded mechanics of meaning-making more generally. Examining the discourse from interviews with 23 gay and lesbian parents, I show that they have very concrete and definable ideologies of family that reflect an American/ Western concept of kinship in which family is made up of those who are related by blood, marriage or adoption; as well as an understanding that family can also be chosen and therefore outside of traditional biogenetic structures. For these men and women, family of choice and the dominant American kinship structure are not mutually exclusive. Through an analysis of the participants' definitions of family, this dissertation finds that the parents gave both a narrow definition (that which includes only blood and legal relationships) and a broad definition (that which includes those not related by blood, marriage or adoption). Based on these definitions, both from the participants themselves and from those who have spoken out nationally against same-sex marriage and parenting, I apply Lakoff's Prototype Theory to offer a way to understand the disconnection between those who believe being gay and being a parent are incompatible, and those who see it as one of many types of family that do not conform to a dominant ideology. I identify a prototype of FAMILY made up of two radial categories to account for two central, yet opposed, ideologies, separated solely by whether parents could be the same sex. I also discuss the parents' positioning of their narratives toward local and nonlocal interactants and their use of generic and personal features in their discourse. The parents both draw upon external influences and become meaning-makers themselves through negotiations of their family identities in the context of dominant ideologies of family that often regard them as illegitimate. The outcomes of the negotiations that the parents undertake do not reflect a new, radical kind of family on the whole, but often a traditional sense of family that sometimes gets more broadly defined to include a supportive network of family and friends. The discursive micro-shifts in definition that these parents perform inform our understanding of the bridge between local negotiations and global shifts in ideology.Item Out on the court : progress for gay college basketball players comes in fits and starts(2015-05) Capraro, Joseph James; Bock, Mary Angela; Cash, Wanda GGay college athletes have often faced homophobia from fellow players, coaches, and others on campus. Barriers are still being broken; there have been just two out gay men's basketball players at the college and professional levels combined, and some conservative institutions continue to force gay students into the closet. LGBTQ and questioning youth are already at increased risk for suicide and drug abuse, and those in hostile environments are significantly more likely to do self-harm than those in supportive or neutral settings. The responsibility for care of these students lies in part with the coaches and schools that provide the arenas and uniforms. While at some schools policies have changed with the times, Baylor serves as a high-profile example of a university that remains hostile to LGBTQ students. This report examines the experiences of two former Baylor women's basketball players and one graduating University of Massachusetts player, who came out before this past season. Context will be established by examining studies done on scholastic and collegiate out gay athletes in 2002 and 2010.Item The outcomes project(2011-05) Castillo, Jose Raul; DeCesare, Donna; Cash, Wanda G.Lesbian, gay, bisexual & transgender young people face a landscape of prejudice and intolerance when first coming to terms with their identities. In these moments of confusion, they often turn to their parents for support, yet parents often lack the information and resources necessary to support their LGBT child. The outcomes project interviews LGBT people about their "coming out" experience, and presents their video interviews a multi-platform website. The interviews appear alongside written accounts that highlight common themes encountered in research. The website also links to well-sourced resources for parents coming to terms with a child's disclosure. By telling these stories in a context that encourages an empathetic response, The outcomes project aims to give parents the information and understanding they need to support their LGBT child.Item The pleasure is all ours : race and queerness in the Promised Land(2012-05) Ramirez, Alexandro Rudolpho; Bonin-Rodriguez, Paul; Canning, CharlotteThis paper calls for a queer art and politics that treats identity categories such as race, gender, sexual orientation, class and others as co-constitutional. With the writer's one-man show, Promised Land: A Radical Queer Revival, as its central text, this paper describes a performance of co-constitutionality that acknowledges the artist's subordinate and privileged statuses through carnivalesque performance tropes such as humor, open sexuality and audience interaction. The first chapter uses media and performance studies to address the investment in whiteness by heteronormative gay politics and culture. The second chapter explores the creation of a racially constituted queer world in Promised Land through the performance and its intertexts. The conclusion offers a notion of performing "the utopian identity" as a means of engaging with and resisting normative hegemony.Item The role of narcissistic entitlement, right-wing authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, conformity to masculine gender norms, and religious orientation in the prediction of prejudice toward lesbians and gay men(2013-08) Adelman, Andrew Lee; Awad, Germine H.This study introduces narcissistic entitlement as a correlate of homonegative attitudes and behaviors and examines the relative strength of relations along with established correlates of right-wing authoritarianism (RWA), social dominance orientation (SDO), conformity with masculine norms, and intrinsic religious orientation. It also tests the role of negative attitudes towards lesbian women and gay men (ATLG) in mediating the relationship between the predictor variables and gay- and lesbian-rejecting and affirming behaviors. Implications for what these findings may offer psychologists are discussed, as are ways findings may inform the political process. Earlier studies support the link between entitlement and homonegativity (Exline, et al., 2004). Narcissism was positively related to dominance, neuroticism, social anxiety, and more aggressive/sadistic and rebellious/distrustful interpersonal styles (Emmons, 1984). Entitled narcissists are quick to take offense (McCullough, et al., 2003), externalize blame (Campbell, et al., 2000), and derogate or attack those who provide ego-threatening feedback or social rejection (Bushman, et al., 2003; Konrath, et al., 2006). Entitlement increases the risk of the narcissist becoming prone to hostile and reactive aggression and extreme violence, even without an ego-threat (Bushman, et al., 2003; Reidy, et al., 2008). Participants were recruited through the Department of Educational Psychology subject pool and data was collected by online survey. Given the focus on heterosexual men's attitudes toward lesbian women and gay men, participants were excluded from analysis if they identified as female, bisexual, or homosexual. Results indicated that entitlement, RWA, and intrinsic religiosity, but not conformity to masculine norms or SDO, were related uniquely to ATLG. ATLG was also related uniquely with measures of behavior, positively to gay- and lesbian-rejecting behaviors, and negatively with gay- and lesbian-affirming behaviors. ATLG was found to significantly mediate the links of entitlement and RWA with lesbian- and gay-rejecting behaviors. Results also indicated that the indirect link of intrinsic religious orientation with lesbian- and gay-rejecting behaviors was significant. Additionally, ATLG significantly mediated the links of entitlement with lesbian- and gay-affirming behaviors. Such an examination advances research and practice by identifying unique correlates of homonegative attitudes and the mechanisms through which they are related to lesbian- and gay-rejecting and -affirming behaviors.Item Same-sex parents in San Antonio(2012-05) Lee, Yi-Mou; Minutaglio, Bill; Dahlby, TracySan Antonio has the highest percentage of same-sex couples raising children compared to any other major metropolis in the nation. The unlikely emergence of San Antonio as a haven for same-sex parents is tied to many complex issues and themes – it touches on history, religion and race deep in the heart of Texas. Below its seemingly conservative surface, San Antonio has a decidedly liberal undercurrent: Its liberal legal system, a network of Catholic leaders quietly supports the gay families, and the Latino community that presents a tolerant side. The story explores the question: How can San Antonio have such high numbers of gay parents, but still be seen by gay parents as a hostile place to live? That seeming dichotomy speaks to the ongoing tension in the nation where liberals push for civil rights, while conservatives push to preserve traditional family values. The battles in the political, religious and cultural arenas in San Antonio exemplify the longstanding tug of war over family values in this country and might help us understand just what the future holds for same-sex couples in the rest of American society.Item Talking stranger: a collection of prose poems(Texas Tech University, 2006-05) Weekley, J. Marcus; Wenthe, William; Kolosov-Wenthe, Jacqueline; Patterson, JillTalking Stranger uses the prose poem genre in order to explore the hybrid nature of the prose poem and the duality of being human—flesh and spirit. The prose poems employ various personae who use seemingly disparate dictions and syntax—colloquial, metaphorical, crafted, and spoken—to convey the idea that verbal and written communication is at best, faulty, and at worst, ineffective. That said, the personae of the prose poems—male, Christian, gay, female, middle-class, childish, straight—in Talking Stranger do try to overcome their own inadequacies regarding communication and rely on their memories, imaginations, and speech in order to engage, entertain, and inform others. Likewise, the personae struggle internally with conflicts about their own physicality and spirituality, desire to live now and fear of consequences, and creativity, mortality, and malevolence. Formally, the prose poems in Talking Stranger also blend expectations about the poetic and the prosaic to utilize then upset the notions of poetry being artful and prose conveying the ordinary. More precisely, the prose poems rely on reader expectations about how prose and poetry function in order to upset those same reader notions, with the hope of making readers more aware of the already-existing generic bridge between poetry and prose.Item Talking stranger: A collection of prose poems(2006-05) Weekley, J. Marcus; Wenthe, William; Patterson, Jill; Kolosov-Wenthe, JacquelineTalking Stranger uses the prose poem genre in order to explore the hybrid nature of the prose poem and the duality of being human—flesh and spirit. The prose poems employ various personae who use seemingly disparate dictions and syntax—colloquial, metaphorical, crafted, and spoken—to convey the idea that verbal and written communication is at best, faulty, and at worst, ineffective. That said, the personae of the prose poems—male, Christian, gay, female, middle-class, childish, straight—in Talking Stranger do try to overcome their own inadequacies regarding communication and rely on their memories, imaginations, and speech in order to engage, entertain, and inform others. Likewise, the personae struggle internally with conflicts about their own physicality and spirituality, desire to live now and fear of consequences, and creativity, mortality, and malevolence. Formally, the prose poems in Talking Stranger also blend expectations about the poetic and the prosaic to utilize then upset the notions of poetry being artful and prose conveying the ordinary. More precisely, the prose poems rely on reader expectations about how prose and poetry function in order to upset those same reader notions, with the hope of making readers more aware of the already-existing generic bridge between poetry and prose.